Riding Thunder
by Dilogyps
Summary: When the Second to the Night Fury - the Skrill - is shot down by Hiccup the Useless, the unspeakable happens. Hiccup befriends the wounded dragon, and all of Hel breaks loose. AU. Eventual Hiccup x Heather. No flames, please!
1. Thunder and Fire

**Riding Thunder**

* * *

 **Chapter One - Thunder and Fire**

* * *

Hiccup woke up in a crazed fashion, as always, when he heard the battle horn's deep thundering. He sighed deeply, and grabbed some supplies for the forge. _Dragon raid._

The teenager started for the bottom floor of his home, before hearing a scream, and the occasional 'Baa' of a sheep being flown away in the talons of a Nadder or Zippleback.

'Well that's strange,' Hiccup thought. 'The dragon raid is earlier than usual.'

Hiccup stepped with light feet down the stairs. He dropped his pack near the base of the stairs, after hearing a familiar sound of an advancing dragon. He reluctantly openned the door, face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare.

It seemed as if the dragon hesitated for a split second, before it released its gelatinous kerosene flame gel thing. Hiccup shut the door quicker than ever, barely dodging a stray stream of gel that made it inside before he slammed the door shut.

The boy heard wings flapping a moment after, signaling the dragon had gone to collect some food - fish or sheep, he didn't really care, as long as he was alive.

The door was still scorching when Hiccup pulled it open and bursted through his house's boundaries.

The boy sprinted, dodging multiple Vikings, and in the adrenaline of the moment - forgetting his smithing materials.

Several of the passing Vikings told him to go back inside, even though that they ironically knew he couldn't stay still - even in sleep.

"What are you doing out?" yelled a running passerby, known as Hoark the Haggard.

"Get inside!" shouted a burly Viking with black marks near the bottom. He was Burnthair the Broad.

"Get back inside!" said a Viking woman wielding an axe, with the Vikings calling her 'Phlegma the Fierce'.

As Hiccup continued running, he noticed a certain Viking and smirks in amusement. Amidst all the other Vikings, running at dragons with their weapons, stood a silent Viking, known only as 'Ack'. He was picking his ear.

In his distraction, Hiccup started running into the path of a rampaging Nadder, only to be quickly pulled away from the dragon's path.

'Oh no,' Hiccup thought, as one burly man with a matted red beard eyed the scrawny Viking. His face was stern and serious. Hiccup shuddered and waited for the imminent yell about to come.

"HICCUP?!" He yelled with a scowl on his face. He was not happy - and 'not happy' was his usual mood, so Hiccup wasn't surprised. The Viking turned to the crowd before him and shouted, "What is he doing out again?"

The man - known as Stoick the Vast, Chief of the 'Hairy Hooligans' - turned to his son in feigned surprise. He shouted - his normal tone - to Hiccup, yelling, "What are _you_ doing out? Get back inside!"

His beefy arms dropped Hiccup, leaving Hiccup to run to the forge. The skinny runt of a Viking received many angry glares on the way there.

Stoick looked at his son in disappointment from above. Oh, he would give to make that 'son' of his into a real, breathing, dragon-slaying Viking. An explosion from a Zippleback above him caused some adjacent Vikings to crouch down, but Stoick stood firm. He only brushed some debris from his shoulder plate. The Chief lifted his gaze unto one of his best Vikings, next to him.

"What have we got?" Stoick barked to the Viking. The man responds in a quick and hushed tone, like if he didn't speak fast enough, he would be brought to Helheim in an instant.

"Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

The Chief merely nods in agreement, before turning around.

"Any Night Furies?"

"None so far."

"Good," Stoick replies in a slightly more relieved tone.

"A strong storm is brewing out there, though. Believe me, that means something, Chief," said the Viking whom Stoick had spoken too. The normally stern Chief's eyes widened.

"READY YOUR WEAPONS!" he yelled to all the Vikings. The Vikings drew their weapons if they hadn't already. The ones who had weapons, slew the dragons they were fighting and got a shield.

"A large storm is coming our way. And it's close," Stoick said to the confused Vikings. "A storm that large can only mean one thing: _a Skrill._ "

* * *

Hiccup dropped into the forge as always, finding Gobber fixing a sword with a hammer and tongs appendage. Hiccup sighed and picked up the other appendages on the floor. The boy stood clear of all of their uses, especially the one with Gobber's hair stuck in it.

"Ah! Nice of you to join the party. I thought you'd been carried off," said Gobber, focused on repairing a damaged sword. Hiccup grabbed an apron from the wall and started helping around the forge with Gobber.

"Who, me? Nah, come on! I'm way to muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all... this," said Hiccup, as he struck a pose.

"They need toothpicks, don't they?" asked Gobber in a slightly sarcastic tone. By now, Vikings were crowding the counter, hoping for a quick fix for their damaged weapons.

"Oh, come on, Gobber!" Hiccup groaned in an annoyed voice. "Who's side are you on, the Vikings who hate me, or the ones that love me? 'Cause I could use some people on the latter."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gobber grumbled at him, barely audible. He was giving Hiccup a blade to sharpen.

Hiccup took the blade to the place where they sharpened weapons, a round stone that was rotating at fast speeds.

He sighed and positioned the blade onto the stone.

'One day, I'll get out there and kill my first dragon,' Hiccup thought while sharpening the already razor-sharp weapon.

Hiccup stopped sharpening it, and walked to the front counter to give it to the Viking who wielded the sword. The boy took a quick peek at the window.

"FIRE!" yelled a random Viking. Suddenly, the fire brigade ran to douse the fire.

'Their job is so much cooler,' thought Hiccup as they passed by the blacksmith. He started to run out of the forge to come with them, but Gobber hooked him before Hiccup could get out.

"Ah, come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark," Hiccup pleaded as he was dragged into the smith.

Gobber eyed him for a moment and set him down on the ground.

"Oh, you've made _plenty_ of marks. All in the _wrong_ places," Gobber told Hiccup as he handed the boy another weapon to sharpen.

"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date," Hiccup begged the man.

The smith gave him a sort-of annoyed look. "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!"

Gobber was holding a bola, before a Viking snatched it and threw it at a Gronckle's legs. The Gronckle crashed to the ground in a small crater outside the forge.

"Okay, fine but," started Hiccup as he rushed to the back of the forge, pushing out another contraption of his. "This will do it for me."

The lid of the contraption springs open, barely missing Gobber and hitting an unsuspecting Viking near the counter.

"Aaargh!" yelled the Viking who was hit.

Gobber turned back to him, and gave him a stern face - or as stern as the man could make it.

"See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about."

"Mild calibration issue," Hiccup muttered to no one in particular.

"Hiccup," Gobber said, easily getting the boy's full attention. "If you ever want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop all...," Gobber said as he gestured in Hiccup's direction.

"...this."

"But you just gestured to _all_ of me."

"Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you!" Gobber said with a barely audible giggle.

"Ohhhhh...," Hiccup said, stressing the word out.

"Ohhhhh, yes," Gobber replied with a shake on Hiccup's shoulder.

"You, sir, are playing a very dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw...Vikingness, contained," said Hiccup, pointing at Gobber with a straight finger. "There _will_ be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances," replied Gobber, not really focused on what Hiccup was saying. The smith turns around and looks at Hiccup, holding out a sword for his apprentice to take. "Sword. Sharpen. Now."

Hiccup sighs and mutters something to himself before taking the sword and begrudgingly lobbing it over his head, all the way to the grinding stone.

The boy's face masked the disappointment in his eyes. As the blade touched the speeding metal, Hiccup's eyes caught an explosion outside the forge. Forcing himself not to think about it, he just looked at the sword, blade, and ground, closing his eyes periodically. Soon, the boy's dangerous curiosity got the better of him, brewing up images of dragons while Hiccup closed his eyes.

The blade moves to the right, positioning it, so that only the tip would get sharpened. Hiccup didn't notice this change and went on while he closed his eyes, expecting a fully sharpened sword when he opened his eyes.

That was not what he got, however. When he did open his eyes, he got a barely sharp sword and a Gobber Viking staring at him.

"What in Thor's name were you thinking?" asked Gobber in a displeased tone. Hiccup instantly jolted up, holding the sword at Gobber. He looks at the sword, himself, then Hiccup, and laughs.

"Did I do anything humorous?" asked Hiccup. Gobber shakes his head, 'no', still laughing. After a minute, he slaps his legs and coughs before replying.

"For a second there," started Gobber, still giggling like crazy. "I thought _you_ had sharpened this sword." Hiccup, naturally confused, looked at the sword. He frowned at his work. The tip was the only thing that was sharp, with the rest of the blade being dull and flat.

"Do you know any Viking who likes to stab instead of swipe?" asked Hiccup, hoping that there was. Gobber shook his head, signaling that he didn't. Hiccup headed back for the grinding stone, when an explosion rang its way into Hiccup's ears. Gobber's too.

They winced, shaking their heads.

* * *

"They found the sheep!" yelled a Viking who manned a catapult.

"Concentrate fire on the lower bank!" shouted Stoick, frustrated that their little resources were - once again - getting lost to the dragons who prowled all over Berk, and the ones they were firing at right now.

"Fire!" yelled the catapult's operator. The boulders are directed towards the corralled Nadders, who are caught in a net, normally used for fishing for crabs. As soon as the catapults need to be reloaded, a hidden dragon came up from its hiding spot to attack the helpless Vikings. A _Monstrous Nightmare._ The catapult team who were hastily trying to reload, didn't notice and quickly climbed back to safety, prepared to bombard another 'large rock of doom' onto the dragons below.

The dragon quickly sped toward it, lighting itself on fire. It sliced thoroughly through the thick wood that stabilized the catapult, and the weapon soon came crashing down, onto a few of some Vikings who tried vigorously to run away from their impending death.

The Nightmare became wary, knowing that the Vikings knew about him now. Other Vikings who manned the catapults were looking around warily, vainly searching for the dragon that would surely cause their doom.

The dragon decided to land on a catapult without any fire on his body. A man with a brown beard looked down on him, before he drew back his head.

"A Nightmare's down there, Chief!" yelled Bjorn the Bullseye, the person who spotted the dragon lurking on their catapult.

The dragon set himself on fire, ready for a fight, but completely revealing himself in the process.

"Reload. I'll take care of this," said Stoick. The Viking readied his hammer, smashing it in the dragon's face. The dragon swatted him with its tail and clawed the Chief in retaliation.

Suddenly, the dragon leapt from the tower, flying in the opposite direction. The Vikings looked skyward, vainly looking for a sign that the Nightmare wasn't scared away by pure chance.

The Chief heard a roar that sounded like a cross between lightning and thunder.

 _Lightning and thunder..._

"JUMP!" Stoick yelled to his men before jumping down himself.

After a split second, the tower was engulfed in a constant blast of white fire, instantly destroying it, leaving behind a pile of ash and burnt wood. And boulders. Lots and lots of boulders.

* * *

"Man the fort, Hiccup, they need me out there!" yelled Gobber as he traded his hammer appendage for an axe appendage. As Gobber started to run out, he turned around and gave Hiccup a threatening glare. "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean," said Gobber before heading out into the fray, hollering.

'Well, how lucky of me," Hiccup thought, a smirk crossing his face. 'I have a chance to test it out.'

Hiccup ran to the back of the forge, coming outside with his bola launcher, which he dubbed 'The Mangler'. He started pushing his contraption towards the battle.

"Hiccup, where are you going!" yelled a Viking with a mace in his hand.

"Come back here!" shouted another Viking.

"I know! Be right back," replied Hiccup to the Vikings.

As Hiccup rushed through the ever-expanding crowd of Vikings, time slowed down in his eyes. He could see every detail and appreciate everything going on around him. Then time sped up again.

Hiccup reached the ledge and turned to look around, wary of any dragon that could kill him and saw Nadders being tied down by his father and some other Vikings around him.

The boy turned around again, looking hard into the dark clouds just overhead, trying to get a good look at anything to net.

 _Flash._

Hiccup turned to the spot of the flash in the clouds, looking for any other flash to indicate that it wasn't by chance that only that piece of sky had lit up.

 _Flash._

Hiccup took a blind shot at the area in between the two flashes, blindly hoping that there was a way that he hit something.

The next moment, he heard a growl like thunder and a great splash, indicating something had fallen into the ocean.

"Oh I hit something! Yes, I hit something! Did anybody see that?" said Hiccup, half-expecting a Viking to be behind him, dumbfounded. As Hiccup turned around, a Monstrous Nightmare silently crept up the rocks near Hiccup's ledge, landing just behind Hiccup.

The thin boy turned around, obviously frightened. "Except for you." said Hiccup, trying vainly to be sarcastic and make the dragon go away, like it was just some big dream, and the dragon was his dad.

* * *

"Aaaahhh!"

Stoick turned his head, expecting it to be a prank, instead finding a screaming Hiccup trying to run away from the immensely agile dragon right on his heels. The Chief face-palmed and sighed.

"DO NOT let the devil beasts escape!" yelled Stoick to the men who were still holding the Nadders down. However, with a gap in the hole without the Chief holding it down, the Nadders escaped almost instantaneously, using the net that had been used to capture them as snares for sheep they had to carry.

Hiccup ran down the plaza, dodging fatal blasts of fire produced from the mouth of the incredibly powerful dragon chasing him, seeing him as a weakling.

Stoick quickly knocked the dragon while it was about to kill Hiccup, hammering it with his hammer.

The dragon tried to retaliate with a glob of kerosene gel, but only produced a few drops and some smoke.

"You're all out," said Stoick to the dragon, taunting it. The dragon took to the skies seeking refuge in which the air gave the mighty beasts.

"Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know," said Hiccup nervously, awaiting the punishment that was sure to come. The brazier behind him collapsed, and the iron basket rolled and released a few trapped dragons. "Sorry, Dad."

The dragons were all in the sky, with a few - dozen - sheep in tow, and it was clear that the dragons had won this raid. It wasn't _surprising_ or anything. It was a rare occasion when the Vikings won, defending their food successfully. It had only happened four times so far, in all of the history of Berk.

"Okay, but I think I hit a dragon," said Hiccup sheepishly, hoping against the odds that his father would listen to him for once in his entire lifetime.

Stoick turned to face the boy, rage in his eyes. He grabbed his son by the collar of his shirt and hauled him away from the plaza, full of embarrassment.

"It's not like that last few times, Dad. I mean, I actually _hit something._ You guys were busy, and I just so happened to land a shot. It went down into the ocean, near the underwater tunnel that gives Raven Point its water. Let's get a search party out there, before it-"

"Stop! Just... stop," replied Stoick, sick of Hiccup's excuses that he did something in his life. If he wasn't there to see it, it didn't happen. "Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an _entire_ village to feed!"

"Between you and me, I think the village could use a little less feeding," he replied jokingly to his father.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" said Stoick, exasperated with his son's behavior. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just... kill it," said Hiccup twisting his hands. "You know? It's who I am Dad."

"You are many things, Hiccup," he said, leaning in closer. "But a dragon killer, is not one of them." Hiccup looked around, seeing Vikings everywhere nod their heads in agreement to Stoick. "Now, get back to the house."

Hiccup walked up to his home, trying not to notice the several glares the fire brigade was giving him. Astrid's glare was hard not to dismiss, as it was dangerously fierce, like it could slice right through your soul, your inner being.

He quickly rushed inside the house, then back outside, leaving via the door on the back side of the house, near the woods, and completely unknown to anyone except Hiccup and his father.

He sprinted into the woods, running in the most familiar direction. Towards the cove.

* * *

"Woah."

There, in front of Hiccup was a Skrill, stuck in a cage.

 _Why was it stuck in a cage?_

The cage was also on the water, just so that the Skrill's feet were submerged.

'Okay, Hiccup,' the boy thought to himself. 'Oh, forget that! What do you do, Hiccup?'

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, I hope you like this first chapter. I probably will be uploading sporadically, when I get the next chapter done, all the way to the end of the story. Yes, Hiccup will let the Skrill free, and they'll bond... I can't spill more of the story out though. Don't gimme names for the Skrill, I have one ready, and I kinda' made up a power here, but it's not that useful, and it will be a namesake, like Toothless. There'll be an _interesting_ bit near the middle, so heads up for that. Just saying, if anyone is curious, I'll just take the first scene from the movie - this chapter - and twist it from there. Bet it will end up in a cool spot.**

 **Language will all be K+, there'll be no swearing or inappropriate scenes in this FanFiction, although some chapters might be strictly _Hiccstrid._**

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own HTTYD, I only own my OC's, this particular Skrill, my Plot, and this FanFiction. All rights are reserved to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell._

 ** _If there's any typos, just PM me, I'll fix them._**

 _Until next time,_

 _\- Dilo._


	2. Hopelessness and Discovery

**Riding Thunder**

* * *

 **Chapter Two - Hopelessness and Discovery**

* * *

'Oh forget that! What do you do, Hiccup?

The dragon before him thrashed in his cage, roaring violently before catching sight of Hiccup.

'Oh, no, please no, I'm dead,' thought Hiccup as he saw the dragon's eyes boring into his soul. And then the dragon lifted his gaze, instead choosing to look at the water that its feet were submerged in.

It took Hiccup a few moments to notice a particularly large set of footprints embedded into the ground near the cage. Skrill prints.

 _Skrill prints?_

"Wait, you were trapped by something?" Hiccup asked, thinking out loud.

The dragon turned to him and opened his mouth. Hiccup closed his eyes, momentarily forgetting that the Skrill's feet were submerged underwater, preventing it from releasing its famous - but dangerous - blast of lighting, the power of Thor himself. It was no surprise that most elders called the Skrills, 'Thor Wings'.

When Hiccup opened his eyes, the Skrill was still there, mouth still open, but instead of the blazing white stream of Thor, it was producing some sort of dark fog. Hiccup leaned down to touch it, getting himself momentarily tazed in the action.

He looked up, catching a glimpse of the Skrill's albeit ferocious, worried eyes. They told the whole story.

 _It was scared._

It was REALLY obvious. How could Hiccup have mis-

 _Wait._

 _A Skrill? Scared?_

'No, Hiccup! That's just your conscious mind telling you that! Dragons are bloodthirsty, killing animals!' thought the side of his mind that wanted to impress his father. But the smiling, happy, loving side of him overpowered his desire to kill the animal. Instead, he decided to set the Skrill free, even if he died in the act.

What did he have to lose anyway?

The whole village hated him, he was always the one... different. The disliked one.

Except for one thing.

 _Gobber._

Hiccup didn't want to leave Gobber, but the hates of the village quickly clouded that idea, and his mind was set.

 _He would set that Skrill free._

Hiccup sighed, thinking of the master blacksmith.

He was like a second dad. And he was indefinitely better than the first.

Hiccup jumped down from the rock ledge before crawling down, under the mini-storm, towards the cage which trapped the Skrill. He second-guessed his commitment for a moment, before pushing on without another thought.

He neared the cage, before slipping on some gloves which he had forgot to put back at the forge. And he opened the cage.

Reluctantly, the Skrill stepped out of its used-to-be prison, and it sent lightning bolts in Hiccup's general direction involuntarily. Hiccup shifted up to dodge the blasts, a part of his leggings singed from the bolts.

The dragon suddenly took in the Viking standing before it. And it roared.

But it didn't kill him.

Instead, it was nosing at its injured right wing, which probably had been sliced by a razor netting trap set by Gobber.

Hiccup sighed.

He'd have to fix that.

* * *

"You got your wish, dragon training in the morning."

 _Why didn't I go first?_

"Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you _will_ kill dragons." Hiccup sighed. He hadn't meant it that way. He put one hand on his head, before continuing to vainly argue with Dad.. once again.

"Dad! Rephrase! I _won't_ kill dragons! There. I _don't_ want to be a Viking," Hiccup blurted out, before mentally sighing. That was too much in one sweep.

Stoick raised his eyebrows, staring straight at Hiccup with accusing eyes. "So, you want to be a burden? Why would you trade being a Viking for that?"

Hiccup groaned, realizing that he had basically rejected his father. His father, _the Chief._ "No, Dad, I don't mean it like-"

"Get out of my house."

"Wait, what? Dad, you can't just-"

" _Get out of my house!"_ Stoick yelled violently. Hiccup just stood there, stunned. "I'll force you out of _my_ house, then," Stoick growled, eyeing Hiccup with dangerously menacing eyes.

"But this is _our_ house-"

"But you're not my son."

"WHAT?!"

"You're not my son!" Stoick shouted, before opening the door - ignoring Hiccup's pleads, and hurling him into the water of the ocean below. After a moment, Stoick came back to his senses, realizing he had basically given Hiccup death.

"Wait, Hiccup!" Stoick yelled in vain, desperately hoping that Hiccup wasn't really dead. But it was too late for that.

 _It was WAY too late for that._

* * *

Before Hiccup realized he was flying through the air, shouting and screaming to his doom, he was already shouting and screaming to his doom.

Good thing he wasn't flying through the air to his doom, though. The water was fairly cold tonight, but was easily tolerable. Hiccup splashed, then surfaced, spitting out water, still stunned that his own Chief - heck, his own _father_ \- had tried to kill him.

He swam silently to the tunnel which led to the cove, quietly hoping the Skrill wouldn't attack him as he surfaced.

 _Deep breath._

'I just hope I don't run into a Thunderdrum,' thought Hiccup as he began to go under, heading for the tunnel.

 ** _Two Minutes Later_**

 _Oh, no, please no. Don't die now, don't die now.._

Hiccup surfaced once again, shivering because of the chilly air that the winter brought to Berk.

And he spotted him.

The Skrill, laying still. He was making those electrified storm cloud things hovering around as well. And, despite knowing the danger, Hiccup just _had_ to touch them.

Nothing happened as Hiccup slid his hand right through the grayish-black cloud.

'What?' thought Hiccup as he repeated the action again and again.

 _But it refused to cause a spark._

 _And it was because he was wet._

Hiccup, knowing this new information, slid through the cloud, impossibly undetected by the Skrill.

The Skrill was sleeping, subconsciously producing the swirling cloud, which funneled into the water like a whirlpool-vortex crossover.

"Interesting," Hiccup thought out loud, inadvertently waking up the Skrill from its state of deep slumber. The dragon stood up, then started virtually screaming at the Viking near him. Its eyes were not friendly, but they weren't hostile either. Suddenly, it whipped around, alert.

From the nearby brush, a twelve jawed Snaptrapper revealed itself, one of Berk's rarest dragons. The only other two 'Berkian Dragons' that were even rarer than the stealthy Snaptrapper were the elusive Skrill, and the seldom-seen Night Fury.

The opposing dragon suddenly lobbed a deadly blast of acid at the Skrill. The targeted beast just sidestepped before producing the mist from its mouth.

Hiccup was watching from the sidelines, stunned at the Skrill's use of its ability instead of the death-wish stream of lightning. The cloudy gas slowly crept up to the confused Snaptrapper.

It made direct contact a few moments later, the Snaptrapper was abruptly tazed and pacified before it flew away, its leg covered in steam.

The Skrill turned its focus back onto the small Viking hiding behind the boulder near the back of the cove. It started stepping towards Hiccup, stopping directly in front of him.

'Well, I have nothing to lose.. except maybe my life and apprenticeship,' thought Hiccup, before cursing himself under his breath for being sarcastic in the face of imminent death.

But.. he really _did_ have nothing to lose.

Hiccup stuck his hand out at the Skrill, face turned away. Hiccup thought he'd need a prosthetic arm soon.

 _( Except that he wouldn't need a prosthetic arm, but a prosthetic something-else later. )_

The Skrill took Hiccup by surprise, pushing his snout into Hiccup's outstretched palm.

There was a side effect, however. Hiccup didn't get electrified, but he wasn't wet.

"Oh my gods, this is amazing!" Hiccup whispered to himself, as loud as he dared. He instinctively put his hand to his hair, instead feeling a _spiky.._ thing.

Then he realized the Skrill was grinning a little.

He had made his hair stand on end.

"Oh, you little-"

* * *

Hiccup couldn't understand.

Stoick didn't really disown him, right? It was just that pure madman power built up inside of him, generated through the stresses of the day. Right?

But he had enough gut to throw his _own son,_ and the _Heir of the Hairy Hooligans,_ off. A. Cliff.

So.. did he really hate Hiccup, or was that pure madman power?

Oh, how Hiccup wished it was the second one.

 _Growl._

"Wait.. Who's tha- oh."

Hiccup turned around, staring into the eyes of the Skrill's curious yet worried eyes. At first, Hiccup thought it was worried of what would happen to itself as they neared the village. Then he realized that the dragon was feeling worried for _him._

The ultimate hiccup of the world.

The Screw - Up.

The Scrawny.

The Disowned. Well, maybe not that one, but you get the point.

Hiccup had been given hundreds of nicknames, as if the twins, Snotlout, and Astrid all had purchased an inventory of nicknames to throw at him every day. Maybe not Astrid, though.

But she was probably doing it behind his back anyway.

And impossibly, the _dragon_ was worried for him. The heartless, selfless, destructive beings that stole food every single raid.

And it was doing what his tribe wouldn't - scratch that, COULDN'T do. Except for Fishlegs, but he was less of an outcast as he was.

So Hiccup made a decision that would change his life.

He decided to stay with the Skrill, in the wild. And assist the dragons in raiding Berk.

Because, frankly, the dragons seemed they had shown more empathy in the past hour, than all the Vikings combined in the last _fifteen_ years.

Oh, well. They hated him anyway.

Hiccup rushed off into the woods, into the opposite direction they had been heading. The agile Skrill caught up from behind and quickly overtook Hiccup.

Then they both fell down and laughed.

* * *

Laughter of a certain someone was heard.

Laughter of a certain someone who was not here anymore.

Stoick sighed deeply.

It sounded like Hiccup so much.. the person who evaded fighting suddenly.

 _Yet, in the irony of it all.. he was dead. Blood on his father's hands._

'Why do the gods tease me with memories?' Stoick mentally complained. 'It's not like I ever liked him anyway.

But..

Deep in his heart..

Love for Hiccup could be found.

* * *

 **A** **/N: So yeah, shorter chapter, but I hope you like it! _Sorry_ for those plot twists! Heh. I _did_ say that I would get the movie, and _twist_ it around! Get it? Get it? Nevermind, I'm Sans the Skeleton. If any of you got that joke, virtual cookies for you! I need a Beta Reader, but that is not my main priority at the moment.**

 **But if you want to, I'll let you write an Epilogue.**

 **NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH! ( Did any of you get _that_ joke? )**

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own HTTYD, I only own my OC's, this particular Skrill, my Plot, and this FanFiction. All rights are reserved to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell._

 ** _If there's any typos, just PM me, I'll fix them._**

 _Until next time,_

 _\- Dilo._


	3. Trapping and Parries

**Riding Thunder**

* * *

 **Chapter Three - Trapping and Parries**

* * *

All was well that night.

It had been six days since Hiccup decided to never go back.

And now, he started to question why he _ever_ wanted to go back to the village. It was perfect out here, a never-ending supply of food and log. Sometimes, Hiccup found abandoned traps, and he fixed them, coming back the next day to see what he had caught.

Normally, it was rabbits. Once it was even a wolf! But they had never been empty, due to the endless food source on the island.

 _Yet, this one WAS empty._

There was some meat still left on the ground near the trap. It wasn't viable, but it was a clue to what had gotten to his used-to-be-lunch. There were also tracks that ravaged the area, and twin identical tracks led away.

Two dragons had got his lunch, then.

But they weren't recognizable.

 _Coo._

 _Coo._

 _Growl._

 _Coo._

Hiccup turned around at the sudden sounds of the mystery dragons and his Skrill, named Thunderhead. He was poking his head into a small log. Hiccup peeked his own head into the log, and he could see a glimpse of a tail with a stinger, and then it swiftly disappeared.

Hiccup poked his head out again, eager to discover this new dragon. It was nowhere to be found, however.

 _Then there was a deep thundering that shook the wind._

Hiccup mounted Thunderhead with a leather insulator saddle. Hiccup sighed, getting adjusted to the feel of the saddle.

It was time for a raid on Berk.

* * *

"Man the towers!" yelled Stoick, gasping for breath because he had to keep running around giving people orders.

It was time for another raid, and this one also had a Skrill. They were setting up barriers near the food, when the dragons suddenly changed course and headed directly for the mill.

"Stop them from getting to the mill!" Stoick exclaimed, his voice getting hoarser and hoarser. Something about the raid seemed off.. dragons went for the food, they never targeted the mill..

 _Unless something was directing them to attack the mill._

'No!' Stoick shouted to himself mentally. Dragons wouldn't do that.. dragons couldn't do that..

Could they?

Dismissing the thought, Stoick grabbed his hammer - which he called Mjolnir because of Thor - and sprinted for the mill, bashing the face of anything that got in the way. Suddenly, a wall of small and hard-to-hit dragons appeared in front of him, chirping to each other, but they weren't attacking.

"Those puny little devils.. I could punt these," Stoick muttered to himself, despite never seeing or hearing of the specific breed before. Their heads resembled that of a Zippleback, if anything. Their body was in the shape of a Nadder's.

The enraged Chief decided to just run these dragons over, but the second he took _one_ step, all of them launched green fire, prompting Stoick to get out of the way. A purple one of the breed appeared behind the smaller ones, largely robust and clearly dangerous. Plus, purple was hard to spot at night.

Stoick reluctantly backed down, only to charge again, surprising the dragons blocking his path. They flew up, and the Vikings ran ahead, only to be met by a line of Nadder blasts. The dragons whom the fires sprouted from were sitting there.. like turrets.

Bucket took a quick look behind the Nadders and discovered there were two Zipplebacks - already spewing gas - and one Hel of a Monstrous Nightmare.

A war cry rang out, quickly alerting the Skrill watching from a ledge nearby. His rider clamped himself onto his back, and together they flew.

It wasn't that bad.. but it wasn't that good.

The Skrill's wing had started healing, but it wasn't fully healed. Knowing this, Hiccup decided to have his dragon use the black fog, instead of lightning bolts.

They were vulnerable because the Skrill's wing hadn't healed, and bolts would give away their spot. The Storm Mist, as Hiccup calls it, would be more safe, as well as more subtle as to where they were located.

"It's tha' Skrill!" yelled Vikings below the dragon. Hiccup quickly drew out his dagger - designed by your's truly - and jumped down from the dragon's relatively low elevation of 20 feet.

Getting to his feet, he slashed at the Vikings near him, and parried dozens of blows; surprising Hiccup. He didn't think he'd gotten _this_ good, but then again, there was no one in the woods often to train against. The original plan was to get captured, gain intel, and sabotage.

Oh, well. This worked nicely too.

Hiccup parried and parried for some seconds, before word reached the Chief of Berk - Stoick the Vast, Oh Hear His Name and Tremble, Ugg, Ugh. The large and burly Vikings strode up to Hiccup before attempting to pick up his hammer to smash Hiccup's head.

But as soon as Stoick even layed a finger, Hiccup slashed it away from the handle's grip. The boy turned his head up and looked at Stoick through the helmet that he had fashioned himself in the woods. It was painted black, with streaks of purple to match the Skrill's overall color scheme. It worked well, and blended him into his dragon's back.

Then the dragons started to flee.

Hiccup jumped onto his nearby Skrill's back, riding it from the faces of the Vikings of Berk. They were stunned into silence, and once Hiccup flew away, they ran amok, frightened at how good this mere boy could dodge, block, and attack the Vikings. It didn't help that he was on the dragon's side.

One thought clouded everyone's mind.

'Who is that boy, cause it sure looked like... him..'

No way.

That little runt of the tribe could never, ever, ever in two million dragon raids be that good at sword fighting. Besides, Hiccup also went nonviolent, he was the cast down pacifist of the tribe, and he could never hurt a thing. Well, except maybe for small bugs and mammals.

But that was besides the point.

There was also another thing pointing away from Hiccup, but only Stoick knew. No one ever bothered to pay much attention to him to notice, but Hiccup used his right hand an awful lot. The person with the dagger was definitely not Hiccup, because the person had been fighting with a southpaw, breaking a rule that Viking women had established for a crude version of fencing, with short pointy pieces of metal used to try and land a clean hit on someone's skin.

No men had tried it before.

All except..

Stoick had never really looked at Hiccup during fencing, but he always seemed to put up a good fight. He kept juggling his blade and struck when his opponent least expected it.

Fencing was never really important to the Viking men, for the sport was about finding your opponent's weak spot as quick as possible and striking, but in raids, it really had no effect as there was barely nine milliseconds before a Nadder blasted you to oblivion.

But now, in his grief, he decided to try fencing.

For Hiccup. And Valka.

Valka loved doing these kinds of things, she was a master at fencing, loved to make jokes and always seemed to cheer little baby Hiccup up. Until that dreadful night.. Stoick decided not to dwell on it, it wasn't really like she was alive now. She was probably eaten alive around ten, twelve years ago, give or take.

He leaned over and whispered into the nearest Viking woman near him.

"You mind teaching me some fencing?"

Phlegma the Fierce just gaped at Stoick, with all the other Vikings turning around to see what was the matter. They couldn't understand.

* * *

 **A** **/N: So.. yeah. Filler chapter today, just to show you what the Skrill - ehem, Thunderhead - can do with his special ability. Do you guys think I made Hiccup a tad too overpowered in this chapter? I think so, yet it's the only way to keep the storyline going. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, and the many chapters to come.**

 **Fun Fact: I originally planned to make this story a One-Shot, but fate is artistic and I was too into writing the One-Shot that I just _had_ to make it a story. Now, I plan the main story to be around 23-ish chapters, or more.**

 **Also, after the main story, I'll put some Expansion Packs including a prequel to keep you guys interested. Capiche?**

 **Please REVIEW!**

 **That's what keeps me writing this.**

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own HTTYD, I only own my OC's, this particular Skrill, my Plot, and this FanFiction. All rights are reserved to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell._

 ** _If there's any typos, just PM me, I'll fix them._**

 _Until next time,_

 _\- Dilo._


	4. For Once

**Riding Thunder**

* * *

 **Chapter Four - For Once**

* * *

Hiccup dodged another axe swing directed at him, just before blocking a second axe - also directed at him. Two Vikings were tag-teaming him, and it wasn't that fun. He dodged and blocked almost every blow, save for one with had slightly grazed his forearm. Slightly.

"C'mon, let's get him!" yelled one of the Vikings he was fending off. The second Vikings merely nodded as to not obliterate his concentration. Hiccup searched frantically for a loophole, as the two Vikings were backing him up into the corner of the Village's new walls, noticing a large hole not too far off to the left.

He saw a weakness in their well-planned out defense. There was a slight delay before each one took their swing and Hiccup used it to his advantage, striking one while the other was still trying to get momentum for their axe swing.

Unfortunately, the Viking was wearing armor in preparation, and the blow just bounced off. The other Viking's axe swung right in to his torso, almost fatally wounding him.

"ARGHHH!" yelled Hiccup, with the Vikings not noticing his voice. His cry of pain alerted the other villagers, and they went from the dragons they were dueling, eager to find out who this person really was.

And slay him afterwards.

Flock after flock of Vikings ran toward him, causing Hiccup to smile smugly. If he died here, at least it wasn't in vain. A few near the front lines, drew out their weapons and began to attack Hiccup. He was weakened by his wound, and his steps were not in sync. They managed to leave a nasty mark on his leg, but it was probably still salvageable.

Hiccup finally succumbed to his wounds, but not before hearing an explosion, a shrill cry and the distinct growls and roars of five different dragons. Five different dragons, one being his.

The boy smiled in small triumph before abruptly falling to his knees. The Vikings battered him again and again, before hearing cheers and a large burly man stepping forward. His matted red beard shone brightly, even in Hiccup's watery and faded vision.

"So. You must be him," he said with pride, and a bit of anger in his voice. "The puppeteer of all these recent raids. You must be happy we caught you," he continued with sarcasm being displayed loud and clear. Hiccup had never felt so annoyed before.

In a fit of deliriousness and anger - but mostly deliriousness - Hiccup agonizingly stood up, his legs shaking like noodles. He nodded. "I am happy you caught me," Hiccup said, confusing most of the Vikings.

"You're going to slay me right?"

All the Vikings raised up their weapons, ready to beat this guy to a pulp. Stoick raised his hammer and dropped it, causing nothing short of a mini earthquake in the immediate area.

Hiccup shot a death glare at all of them, before backing up and turning his back to the Vikings, stepping towards the hole in the wall. "You know, I sort of doubted it at first," stated Hiccup, chuckling to himself. "I thought you guys would be forgiving, and boy was I wrong."

He turned around, facing the Vikings again, but looking specifically at one. He pointed his left index finger at Stoick. "I thought _you..._ could forgive me for my foul play and my dirty tricks. But I would _never_ hurt anything. Not a fly. Look at the contrast between us," he said, now gesturing to the whole of the Viking assembly.

"I kill for self defense. _You guys..._ you kill for sport. Bloodlust. Status. I almost wanted to be like you guys," he said, stepping ever so closer to the cliff drop hiding itself beyond the broken point in the wall. "But when I actually did something for once, but you guys didn't believe me. I went out searching that day, only to find my greatest wish. To kill a dragon. But I couldn't..."

He stared off at the rising sun, before removing his mask while he was turned away, revealing his auburn hair and pale skin. Hiccup turned around, and shocked whispers and murmurs circulated through the group. Stoick was there with a shocked expression, but before he could talk, Hiccup spoke faster, and in a loud voice.

"I hope you all are satisfied."

He stepped onto thin air, and plunged down the cliff drop.

Stoick ran in vain to catch his hand before he fell, but he noticed a small splash and then..

Nothing.

Stoick yelled out in vain, even vowing to pay any price, be it his own life, or his village to get him back. His Hiccup, probably ACTUALLY dead now. But it wasn't him who caused it this time.

This time, it was Berk's fault. Except for maybe Gothi.

The whole of Berk stood there near the wall section, plainly baffled by the whole experience, still comprehending.

They hadn't noticed the electric shock, or the black figure in the sunset, nor the Scauldrons in the water who had made the splash look like Hiccup died.

Because now, Hiccup didn't have ties to this place... this... this... wet heap of rock, strewn from the earth. He was free from this _wretched_ place. For once.

For once.

* * *

 **A** **/N: Hahahah! A super sneaky nighttime update! Anyways, I know this chapter is SUPER SHORT. But I'm promising you this. The chapters are about to get infinitely better, from here on out!**

 **Thank you all for 1,000 views! As a reward - I shouldn't say reward, it makes me think of you like dogs - As an _incentive_ , I am going to choose two people who review this chapter and give them a sneak peek to next chapter.**

 **Also, it's literally 1:04 AM here. Ugh, I'm so getting back to a sleeping schedule..**

 **Also, also, if you do NOT want to participate in the incentive, but still want to review, please put a notice at the BOTTOM of your review. Like, the very bottom so I can easily assess who gets the sneak peek.**

 **I think the next chapter will be VERY LATE February, or in EARLY TO MID March. If I take long, I'm sorry in advance for the wait. But that usually means like I am cooking up something good.**

 **Be good people and don't flame me, okay? But I like criticism. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, mind you.**

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own HTTYD, I only own my OC's, this particular Skrill, my Plot, and this FanFiction. All rights are reserved to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell._

 ** _If there's any typos, just PM me, I'll fix them._**

 _Until next time,_

 _\- Dilo._


	5. Sorry

So, hello again. I bet not many of you are THAT disappointed to hear my news, but let's be formal.

* * *

 **Chapter Five : Sorry**

* * *

First things first. This is NOT - I repeat - NOT A CHAPTER. In fact, you won't be seeing this particular story update on this particular account any time soon. And I'm **sorry, very, very sincerely sorry** to anyone who was looking forward to the next chapter of Riding Thunder.

The thing is, I'm starting to get SUPER BUSY, managing a YouTube Channel - which by the way is NOT named 'Dilogyps' - getting my new job ( **Hurrah!** ) and managing in college. Y'know, REAL LIFE. It's not like I'm some supernatural being that can stop time and pump out a chapter!

I'm very busy, is the point. So busy in fact that I almost never touch my bookmark to FanFiction. And I got stuck on For Once for AGES before deciding to just bang it out. Top quality chapter? Heck no, far from it.

But again, my point is I'm SO BUSY, I'm starting not to even get into FanFiction. Pair that with the fact that I'm depressed about something personal and not having any inspiration to right this chapter is just the breaking point.

But I was hesitant to, because I wanted to get something out to you guys. If you haven't noticed, this is basically the most successful fic out of all of my fics. So I held it off, until the flood gate was broken open.

Now, I don't want to get my work wasted, so I'm allowing one of you Author's who read Riding Thunder to adopt this fic.

Oh, and by the way, if you really like this, **take one really, really good look at it. 'Cause I'm deleting this on March 10th.**

Surprise, surprise.

* * *

 **A/N : I'm sorry. For all of this. This counts for all my other stories too, so all those are up for the taking. They're also going to get deleted, and all are up for adoption.**

 _For the last time,_

 _~ Dilo._


End file.
